


Lawless

by rweoutofthewoods



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Assassin Keith (Voltron), Betrayal, Emperor Lotor (Voltron), End of the World, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Keith/Lance (Voltron), Gangs, Gay Keith (Voltron), Kidnapping, Klance endgame, Lance/Lotor - Freeform, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Rebels, Slow Burn, Violence, i finally didn't name a fic after a song guys, voltron is a group of rebels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23740981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rweoutofthewoods/pseuds/rweoutofthewoods
Summary: Atlas City is a cruel and ruthless place.five-hundred years after the fall of The Golden Age the world is a place of corruption and pain where there's no such thing as good or bad, everyone is simply trying to do their best to come out on top in a time where death is the only constant.In the midst of this world is where we find Lance, married to a well-meaning but harsh emperor, Lance lives sheltered and safe within the walls of the palace.Until one night he's torn from his safety and thrown into the outside world and a group of rebels who are all fighting for the one thing Lance long ago accepted to be impossible... peace.As Lance makes new friends and begins to fall in love he's forced to question everything he thought he knew.Could Voltron be the key to a new world?
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 41
Kudos: 86





	1. Ruthless

Atlas City was a ruthless place.

They called it The City of Dreams once, but a person would only know that now if they were one of the lucky few to be exposed to text from the past.

Lance supposed he was lucky; he had an entire library full of text from the Old World. That library was the most beautiful place left on Earth in his opinion. It held books about girls and boys on missions to save the world, magazines, and newspapers telling of long-dead people and the clothes they wore like it mattered. It seemed vain to Lance yet at the same time he wished he’d been born in a time when it mattered. There were other stories too though, ones of monsters, gods, and titans. Stories older than Lance could even believe the world was.

He knew the story of Atlas, where his city’s name came from. He could never understand why someone would name a city after a titan who was punished by the gods, forced to hold the crushing weight of the heavens on his shoulders for all of eternity. It didn’t seem like the name you’d give a place where dreams came true.

Lance wondered some nights if Atlas was out there even now, holding up the sky even eons later. Some nights he wished the titan would just let it fall.

Everyone knew Atlas City was a ruthless place, a place where dreams died. But if you were one of the lucky ones, at least _you_ could be the one crushing them.

\--

“You can’t go in there,” the guard said roughly his hand going to the blaster on his hip.

Lance sighed undeterred by this, it was all for show after all. The guards would never lay a hand on him unless it was a direct order from their commander.

“I need to see him,” Lance replied calmly but with a note of pleading in his voice.

“Then you’ll wait until after the meeting is over.”

Lance hesitated for a second before stepping back “Okay, okay, fine. You get your way this time Ankor. But next time I swear you can’t stop me!”

Ankor shook his head in amusement letting his rough demeanor drop “You say that every time sir.”

“Well, I mean it this time,” Lance replied crossing his arms.

“I’m sure you do,” Ankor said seriously and Lance sighed knowing the guard was only humoring him.

“I do,” Lance said primly, straightening up “I’m going to the library. Please tell him that I wish to see him once the meeting is over.”

“Of course, I will relay that information.”

“Thank you, Ankor.” Lance turned and swept down the hall to the library.

\--

Lance was halfway through some fantastical story about magic, witches, and wizards when he felt arms wrap around him from behind, pulling him out of his book.

Lance giggled as soft kisses were pressed to his cheek trailing down his jaw. He could help but gasp as the kisses reached the sweet spot on his neck. He swatted his lover away.

“We’re in public, that’s indecent.”

“My love, this is my palace. It’s hardly _public_.”

“Okay, still there are people around, save that for the bedroom.”

“As you wish my dear. Now, Ankor told me you wanted to see me? What is it?”

“Well, Lotor…”

“Yes, Lance?”

“I’ve almost read every book here.”

Lotor arched an eyebrow in an amused way “Quite a feat, shall I find you some more as I assume, you’re requesting?”

“Yes please, thank you.”

“Of course, anything for you.”

“You know…” Lance started carefully “if you were to allow me out of the palace every so often, I wouldn’t have to read quite so much.”

“Absolutely not,” Lotor said firmly just as Lance had expected. “Outside of this palace is dangerous, Atlas City is a ruthless place.”

Lance’s heart dropped in disappointment, but he pushed it away and smiled gently “Alright, then just some new books would be good.”

“You’ll get them. I’ll be going away tonight,” Lotor told Lance standing up and brushing out the wrinkles in his suit.

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere you need worry about. We’re making an _arrangement_ with one of the rebel gangs.”

“Okay, and you’ll be back soon, or is this another long trip?”

Lotor leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to Lance’s lips. “Not long, we’ll be heading to the outer rings but not anywhere close to the borders. So, a few days at most.” He straightened up turning towards the doors. “I have more meetings now, but I’ll be done for dinner, we can spend some time together.”

“Sounds great.” They exchanged one last kiss and Lotor departed.

The smile dropped from Lance’s face as his lover disappeared down the hall. Lotor never made it for dinner.

\--

Lance woke that night to the sound of footsteps in his room. Blinking groggily, he shifted in bed sitting up on his forearms. Lotor had left earlier that night but maybe something had happened and he’d come back?

“Lotor?” Lance whispered into the dark.

There were more heavy footsteps and a flash of movement as Lance realized too late that those footsteps definitely weren’t Lotor’s.

He jumped out of bed in hope that he could get to the blaster he had hidden beneath the floorboards, but a dark figure darted forward tackling him to the floor.

Lance tried to call for help “Guard!-“ but he was cut off quickly as a gloved hand covered his mouth. Before he could react, there was a sharp prick of a needle on his neck.

As consciousness quickly slipped away all Lance could think was: _well shit_.


	2. Sameness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as requested, here's more of this fic. Yes, I managed to update like a day apart. It's an honest to god miracle.

The air was cold.

Lance’s arms were covered in goosebumps beneath the thin material of his pajamas. The chill wasn’t bad, but after so long it had sunk into his bones in a persistent way that kept him shivering.

Atlas City wasn’t a cold place, it was hot and humid. On the hottest days, Lotor would allow Lance to read in the gardens. Lance would bake in the heat and it would fill his lungs thickly. But It was better than inside the palace, during those times Lance most felt his confinement. He felt like he was suffocating within the walls.

On the cool days, it was still warm and sticky. Lance read enough old books to know that somewhere in the world there were places where it got cold during parts of the year, but no such thing happened in Atlas City.

So, the cold was off-putting, to say the least. How far was he from home?

All Lance knew was that he was in a prison cell of some sort, in addition to being freezing it was also dark. The kind of darkness where he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face.

The walls of the cell were a smooth metal and his hands were cuffed behind his back with hard a hard material that felt similar.

This was all the information Lance was able to gather, he didn’t even know why he’d been taken. All he could do now was wait…

So, wait he did, for hours or days maybe. It was hard to tell when each minute was the same as the last.

His waiting was cut off so suddenly left was left blinking in surprise as his sameness was shattered by the hiss of the door opening.

Lance flinched away from the light. He couldn’t see as someone grabbed his arms and pushed him out of the cell, Lance could hear the familiar steady hum of a blaster and he shook his head trying to prepare himself.

For what? He wasn’t exactly sure yet.

As his eyes finally adjusted, he took in two guards of some sort, the were dressed in black armor with yellow lights tracing the edges and illuminating the dark corridor Lance was being led down.

“Uh, where am I?” Lance asked the guards but predictably, neither of them answered.

The dingy hall they were walking through opened up and Lance was led into a brightly lit hall, everything was a shade of white except for more colored lights similar to those on his guards’ armor running up the walls, this time a bright turquoise color.

Well whomever these guys were, they had a theme.

The guards stopped Lance in front of a large table in the middle of the hall. Five people were sitting at the table watching Lance, they all wore armor like the guards with their colored lights.

On the far side sat a large man who wore yellow, then a small girl with green, and an angry-looking guy in red. In the middle of the table sat a woman wearing all white with no colored lights, next to her sat a man who seemed to be her counterpart wearing all black.

“Lance Galra.” The woman in white spoke clearly, her voice ringing through the large room.

“That’s my name.” Lance raised his chin and met her eye. One thing he knew was never to show weakness.

“I’m aware,” The woman replied properly “You are a ruler of Atlas City, married to the emperor, correct?”

Lance snorted in surprise “Um, no.” he frowned “I mean yes, well— yeah, no.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean that I am married to the emperor, but I’m no ruler.”

The woman in white paused seemingly taken aback “But if you’re married to him then why do you not rule alongside Emperor Lotor, as is the tradition?”

“I’m not allowed,” Lance shrugged.

“Why is that?”

“Um because I was a pit-fighter. Eventually, I lost too many fights, Lotor’s mother took me in as a servant when I was a teenager and eventually Lotor and I were married. But I’m tainted, Streets, Pits, and Sellers aren’t allowed in the war room.”

“So, what on earth do you do in the palace then?”

“I read,” Lance shrugged.

“Are you kidding me?” The man in red stood up suddenly “Taking this guy was basically an act of war against the Galra! they’ll kill us for this and he’s completely useless?”

“Keith,” The woman in white said sharply.

“Allura—” Keith started but she quickly cut him off once more.

“No, he can still be useful to us.”

“Okay, but am I the only one who can’t get past the fact that Lotor married a Pit?” The girl in green spoke up with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s offensive, there’s nothing wrong with Pits. I mean besides the word itself, not real cool. Reminds me of armpits.”

The girl paused “I hadn’t thought of it like that before but now you’ve ruined that for me, thanks.” She said scrunching her nose “But no, there’s nothing wrong with Pits, however, there’s plenty wrong with Lotor.”

“Pidge stop chatting with the prisoner.” Keith glared at her.

“Fuck you, Keith,” Pidge said but she didn’t seem very serious.

“There’s nothing wrong with Lotor,” Lance frowned.

The five seated at the table exchanged quick looks that didn’t go unnoticed by Lance.

“Um,” Pidge started “Do you live in a bubble?”

“No!” Lance said indignantly but he felt something in his chest sink suddenly “Well…” he continued softly “Maybe? I really just read, I’m not allowed to leave the palace or know about anything official affairs.”

“Okay,” The man in yellow said speaking for the first time “look dude, you said you were a Pit? You were in The Heart I assume? You must know what type of group the Galran Gang is. They preach purity but all they bring is death, Pits see it firsthand.”

“Okay, yeah, but Lotor is different.”

“Why are we wasting our time with this?” Keith said sharply, interrupting for what felt like the millionth time.

Allura sighed “Guards, please take Lance back to his cell, there’s nothing more we can discuss together at this moment.”

They nodded and started to steer Lance back the way he’d come.

“Wait, where am I?” Lance called back “Who are you people even?”

Allura surveyed him thoughtfully for a moment “We, are Voltron.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing: Voltron! 
> 
> I hope this chapter has given you a little bit of the feel for the kind of story this is going to be. I was originally aiming for it to be a more futuristic post-apocalyptic gangs kind of thing and it's kind of ended up with more of a royal side to it so far but I'm into it.


	3. Darkness

Lance had decided, he officially hated the dark.

After meeting the Voltron people He’d been sent back to his cell to wait in the dark again, at least they’d given him some food, but it was kind of hard to eat when he couldn’t see.

Time passed in a hazy way until once again it was broken by the hiss of the door, Lance knew this time to protect his eyes from the sudden light.

It wasn’t guards that greeted him but the man from the table wearing all black. He was the only one who hadn’t spoken then.

Lance hesitated, blinking in the light as the man gestured for him to come forward. Seeing his caution the man in black paused offering a small smile which made him seem much less intimidating.

“I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to talk.”

“Okay,” Lance agreed carefully.

The man nodded and stepped aside to let him leave the cell. Lance followed him down the hallway but they didn’t go to the big white room. Instead, the man led him into a smaller room with a table, chairs, and even an old coffee maker in the corner.

“Take a seat,” The man said.

Lance obliged “So uh, I assume you’re not going to torture me?”

“No, do you think we’d do that?”

“Well, you didn’t kidnap me,” Lance pointed out.

“True, but sometimes there are things you just need to do.”

“And torture isn’t one of those things?”

“Not right now.”

Lance grimaced “That’s reassuring.”

The man just shrugged “I’m Shiro by the way,”

“I’m Lance, but you know that.”

“I do, and Lance I’m going to be very honest with you. We kidnapped you because we thought you had vital information that could help us end the Galra’s reign, but it seems that our intel was mistaken. This puts us in a difficult position, we’ve been discussing what to do with you.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Uh, that was brought up, but no.”

“Wait, let me guess who brought it up, the angry red one?”

Shiro sighed “Yes, Keith. He can be a little uh… harsh.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that when he called me useless.”

“Sorry, he doesn’t really mean it. He’s not a bad guy when you get to know him.”

“You know, in books, the kidnappers don’t normally apologize for things.”

“Well, we don’t mean to treat you badly here.”

“Sure…” Lance said not really believing it “So what did you decide?”

“Huh?”

“About what to do with me?”

“Oh, we decided that you’re still useful to us. You may not have the info we wanted but there are still things you may be able to help us with.”

“So, I’m still a prisoner?”

“Yes,” Shiro nodded “To be real here, I’m sure you know you have no chance of escape. This place is armed to the teeth, we have hundreds of soldiers and even if you managed to get out you’ll never find your way home alone. So, if you agree to just play along we can get you a room, new clothes, we’ll take the cuffs off. You’re a prisoner either way so you might as well be a comfortable one.”

“Will I get to have a room with a light?”

“Yes,”

Lance paused for a moment before sighing in defeat “Fine, as long as I get light.”

“Then it’s a deal.” Shiro stood gesturing for Lance to do the same “Come on then, let’s get you a room.”

\--

Keith watched Shiro leading the emperor’s husband through the control room. They were talking easily, but from his place at the war table across the room he couldn’t understand what they were saying.

“Leave it to Shiro to befriend the prisoner,” Keith muttered.

Pidge looked up from whatever tech project she was currently messing with to watch them “I don’t blame him,” She shrugged “I kind of like the prisoner, he didn’t seem like the kind type a guy like Lotor would marry though. Too nice, and kind of naïve.”

“I think he’s just been sheltered,” Hunk piped up from across the table “It seems to me that he has no idea the kind of things Lotor does.”

“Yeah, it’s too bad because Lance seems pretty decent. It’s gonna be a real shocker when he finds out who Lotor really is.” Pidge said sticking a screwdriver behind her ear as she cracked open some panel on her project.

“He could be fooling us. He acts all innocent, but he said he was a Pit.” Keith said sharply.

“Okay firstly,” Hunk said holding up a hand “Shiro was a Pit too and he’s a good guy. Secondly, Lance said he lost too many fights and wound up a Street. So, it doesn’t sound like he was a very good Pit.”

“Okay but—” Keith started only to be cut off by the sound of Allura’s approaching footsteps.

“Paladins,” She said briskly “We have strategies to go over, why are you all lounging around?”

They sat up straighter knowing that their conversation was over, Allura wasn’t one for free time.

\--

The next day Allura called the paladins to the war table after lunch insisting, they all show up and be on their best behavior. For some reason, she’d mostly glared at Keith when she’d said it.

Now they were all sat at the table trying to sit straight enough to earn Allura’s approval. Keith wanted to hit something. Which okay, wasn’t an unusual thing for him, but today he wanted to a little more than on an average day. He was never made to be an obedient soldier and he was honestly getting tired of the shit Allura was putting them through. Keith was supposed to be out there killing things! Not sitting in a room talking around in circles.

Allura entered the room accompanied by Shiro and the prisoner, Lance, or whatever. She showed Lance to a seat and Keith bristled a little. It wasn’t right to have an enemy sitting at the table they planned their rebellion at. 

Lance was no longer wearing the pajamas he’d had on before but now he was dressed in a simple dark blue shirt and pants.

Sitting at the table in all blue with the paladins, the prisoner looked like he belonged there. He looked like their missing piece.

Something about that thought turned Keith’s stomach.

“So is this where I play the game then?” Lance asked.

“If you value your light,” Shiro said with a chuckle.

“I do, but I suppose we’re about to see how much. What are you going to ask me?”

“We can start simple,” Allura said “How about this, do you know where the Emperor is now? We know he left the palace but that’s all.”

Lance hesitated before saying softly “You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”

“I promise we don’t plan for any harm to come to him,” Allura replied calmly.

Lance sighed “I don’t know where he went exactly. The last time I saw him he said he was going because he was making _arrangements_ with some gang, whatever that fuck that means.” Lance shrugged “He told me he’d be gone a couple of days at most. They were going to the outer rim, but not near the border. That’s all I know.”

Hunk frowned “What gang is in the outer rim that would side with Lotor? Not the Olkari right?”

“No way,” Pidge cut in “The Olkari only care about tech, they’d never take his bribe, Lotor couldn’t offer them anything they’d want.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Keith said his brow furrowing.

“What do you mean?” Allura asked him.

“I’m not telling you in front of the enemy,” Keith said stubbornly.

Lance laughed “Who am I going to tell, my bedroom walls? And I’m not your enemy.”

“You’re married to Lotor, of course you are!”

“Lotor isn’t a bad person,”

“Uh, yeah he is!”

Lance glared “Hey, I’m the one who actually knows him.”

“Are you? It seems to me like you don’t know the first thing about that piece of shit. Do you know he deals quintessence? That’s what the Olkari would want, that stuff is powerful as hell.”

“Keith!” Allura hissed.

“What?” Lance asked blinking in surprise “No way, Lotor would never deal quintessence! That stuff is horrible.”

“Except he does, so clearly you don’t know him after all.”

Lance’s brow furrowed “I’m done playing.” He said suddenly standing up take me back to my room, or the cell. Whatever I don’t care but I’m done.”

Shiro shot Keith a look that he knew meant he was going to be getting words later “okay then Lance, come on. I’ll take you back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have two other fics I should be working on rather than throwing myself headfirst into this (yes this is 3 chapters in less than a week) but with isolation and stuff, I just was having a rough time and not feeling my other stories right now. This one has brought back my love for writing so I'm just going to keep going with this until I inevitably burn out because I always do 😂😂
> 
> But hey I turn 18 in two weeks which I'm pumped about!!


	4. Harmless

Lance had been trying to keep count of how long he’d been held captive. It was hard to say exactly since he’d spent the first part of it in the dark, now in his room, he could see the sun rise and set through the skylight on the ceiling. It’d been about a week since he’d been placed in his new room and even longer since he’d been kidnapped so Lance thought that surely by now Lotor would be looking for him.

He would have noticed that Lance was gone by now and sent people to find him. So, maybe Lance couldn’t escape, but he could wait for Lotor to find him.

Lotor could find him. Even if Lance had no idea where he was.

While Lance’s new room had light, the only window was the skylight, all Lance could see was a very small strip of sky. There were no markers to help him figure out where he was. All he knew was that he wasn’t anywhere near The Heart or any populated area of Atlas at all. He may not even be in Atlas City for all he knew.

Lance tried to push those thoughts from his mind with a small frown, he knew he shouldn’t worry. He lightly touched his wrist, Lotor _would_ find him.

There was a click of the door pulling Lance from his head, he looked up expecting a guard carrying his dinner, but he was instead met by Allura accompanied by Shiro.

“Hello, Lance,” She said clearly “I was hoping we could get your help on something.”

“No,” Lance said immediately.

“Lance—” Shiro started in his kind way but Lance cut him off.

“I said no. I’m not playing your fucking game and I will not help you hurt everything my husband has built. So either get out or kill me!”

Allura and Shiro quickly exchanged looks before backing out of the room.

The door shut behind them with a final click and Lance was once again left alone.

\--

After Shiro and Allura’s visit, Lance expected the next to be a guard leading him to his execution. But days kept passing and the only times his door was opened was when a guard was delivering food.

Up until two weeks later when the man who wore yellow entered. Lance was pretty sure the man’s name was Hunk.

“Uh, hi.” Hunk waved timidly “I made you some dinner, I know the stuff they’ve been bringing you must suck.”

“You… made me dinner?”

“Yeah! It’s pretty good if I do say so myself,” He held the plate out to Lance “Here, it’s steak.”

“Steak?” Lance asked his eyebrows shooting up “where the fuck did you get stake from? I lived in the palace and even we could never get beef.”

Hunk just shrugged “It’s a miracle what people are willing to often when you treat workers fairly.”

“Treat workers fairly…” Lance repeated slowly “What do you mean?”

“Well, we pay them fairly for their work. Not just in our rebellion but helping to keep this place up and running and feeding us.”

“But we get paid with our lives? Isn’t that sufficient enough?”

“Letting people live in payment for their work motivates them to do the work sure, but they’re doing it because they _have_ to. People work much better when they’re being paid with a home, clothes, food and other goods. Not to mention forcing people to work for their life is just inhumane.”

Lance frowned “So, what do you do if someone doesn’t want to work?”

“Then they’re free to go somewhere else, but most people do want to work. We have them do the things they enjoy. They can request whatever field they want.”

“That’s… impossible.” Lance said quietly.

Hunk smiled gently “I know it’s hard to comprehend when you’re coming from The Heart, but it’s very much possible. Everyone that’s here is here because they choose to be… um well, except for you. But I assure you, it’s very much possible.”

“But if it’s possible then why don’t we do it in Atlas. I was always told any other way was impossible to do. We already had the best way.”

Hunk grimaced “Because it’s only ‘the best way’ for power, people are easier to control when they’re scared. The Galra don’t care about anything but control.”

“That’s not true,” Lance said crossing his arms defiantly.

“Look, Lance…” Hunk started with a sad look “I’ve been in a similar place to you before. I’m actually a Garret.”

“What?” Lance asked his mouth falling open in shock.

“Hard to believe right? I never really fit in with my family. You know, the Garrets, one of the harshest families in the Galra. And me, I liked to cook, I got sick whenever I saw anyone get tortured. It’s safe to say that my family was disappointed in me. I just didn’t see things the same way, so I ran.” Hunk paused with a shake of his head “It took me a long time after leaving to come to terms with how different the world was from how I’d been taught. So, I know that right now you must be confused, it probably feels like people are trying to fuck up everything you know.”

Lance lowered his eyes to the floor “You guys don’t know Lotor…” He said softly “He’s a good person, he never believed in the same awful things his father did. He doesn’t like public executions, he even put restrictions on The Pit!”

“Lance…” Hunk said gently “I know how hard this must be to accept, clearly you love Lotor. But doing things like making it so you have to be twelve or older to fight in The Pit is hardly some act of god. He’s still a Galra, he still rules with cruelty. He’s part of the same people who forced you to become a Pit. I mean how old were you when you were forced to fight?”

Lance hesitated before responding his brow furrowing “…I was ten.”

“Ten? Ten is two years younger than twelve, would you feel any better about it if you’d been a Pit at twelve?”

“Well, no. But Lotor can’t just go and change things like that—”

“But he could Lance! That’s the point, he’s the emperor! He could, but he won’t. We will.”

“I don’t know- I-I just don’t… can you go so I can eat in peace please?”

“Okay…” Hunk said, “Enjoy your food.”

“Yeah, uh but thank you for bringing me dinner.”

Hunk smiled warmly “It was my pleasure.”

He turned towards that door and he was just about to close it behind him when Lance called out,

“Wait!”

“Yeah?”

“I want to know more about what you’re doing. What’s your plan, what would things look like if Voltron was in control? Things like that.”

“Okay, we can arrange that.” He smiled warmly which Lance was beginning to think was his signature smile and with that, he was gone.

\--

The next morning guards came to retrieve Lance, they escorted him back to the same place they’d been last time, some sort of planning space it seemed. 

“Lance, welcome.” Allura greeted gesturing for him to take a seat. “Hunk tells us you wish to hear about what we plan to do here; I understand this, and we can tell you a little about our operation.”

“Okay,” Lance sat down with a nod. Joining the color-coded people he’d become more familiar with than he’d ever wanted to be.

“Voltron is a rebellion, for lack of a better word.” Allura began “It was originally started decades ago, by my father, Alfor Altea.”

“Alfor Altea?” Lance asked his mouth falling open in shock “you’re an Altea?”

“Yes, I am the only living Altea left,” Allura replied her expression turning dark for a moment before looking up seriously. “I’m sure you’ve heard the story The Galra tell.”

“Yeah, an entire Galran family line just disappeared overnight without a trace, it’s one of Atlas’s biggest mysteries.”

“But it’s no mystery,” she shook her head “it’s a lie. My father wanted to change the way The Galra did things, originally when he and the previous emperor Zarkon took rule that was their plan, to better Atlas City, but Zarkon changed his mind. My father started Voltron underground. He was going to overthrow The Galra. But… Zarkon found out. When he did, he had my father and all my family killed, I only survived because my father’s good friend Coran smuggled me out.” Allura paused taking a deep breath “I’ve lived in hiding my entire life and when I was old enough Coran told me of Voltron and I made it my mission to bring it back to life again. Our mission is to make get rid of the unjust rule, to rid Atlas of gangs and the need for Pits, Sellers, Streets, and every other horrible way to live. There are enough resources for all of us it’s not right that the gangs should get top pick and leave everyone else to fight for scraps.” She looked Lance dead in the eye “We want to make Atlas City a _good_ place.”

Lance looked down at his fingers trying to process everything Allura had just told him “But Atlas City is a ruthless place.” He whispered.

“Excuse me?” A voice asked.

Lance looked up to meet the red one’s eyes, Keith. But there wasn’t any of the anger and hate Lance had come to expect from this man so far. Instead, he just seemed surprised, intrigued, and maybe a little alarmed.

“Huh?” Lance asked.

“What did you just say?”

“I said that Atlas City is a ruthless place, why?”

Keith paused looking at him with an expression Lance couldn’t read, he shook his head after a moment “Uh no reason, I just knew someone who used to say that.”

Shiro frowned and Hunk and Pidge exchanged a look. Allura made a stern face before turning back to Lance “Well, uh yes…” She said continuing as if there had been no interruption “but it’s our goal to change that, with as little bloodshed and pain as possible. We try not to ever stoop to the level of the gangs. You know kidnapping you wasn’t a decision we made lightly. We didn’t want to do it, but we thought it was worth the cost, for the greater good and all that. Now I think we misjudged, you’re innocent and I’m aware that it’s wrong of us to keep you here, but we’re kind of in an impossible situation.”

“You can’t always be good, not here.” Lance said heavily, he paused for a moment considering whether or not to continue “I… I didn’t _lose_ in The Pit. I mean I did at first, I was ten when my family couldn’t pay to keep me with them anymore, I got the bad side of the lottery and wound up in The Pit. I didn’t know how to fight at first, but I learned. By the time I was fourteen, I’d learned my strengths and I never lost. _Sharpshooter_ was what they called me,” Lance said his voice turning bitter “I loved it at first,” he said with a humorless laugh “I was nothing without that name, but too many years passed, I killed too many people. I didn’t want to do it anymore, but what choice did I have? Either it was kill, or someone else would kill me. So, I did, but eventually, I snapped. I let myself start losing until I wasn’t worth any money and I was thrown on the streets.” He took a deep breath “Haggar didn’t take me in because of some kindness, she took me in because she wanted an assassin. The only reason I’m not out there killing people for the Galra right now is because Lotor took a liking to me. He wanted to protect me, and I didn’t want to kill anymore. I thought that was me doing _my_ good. The best I could do. By not getting any more blood on my hands. I’m not saying I’m happy with being kidnapped but I understand why you did it, and I’m far from innocent. I’m not Lotor’s naïve, brainwashed, husband.”

“No,” Shiro spoke up “You’re definitely not,” He laughed quietly “you were playing the game. You know who I am, you knew from the beginning.”

“Yes, I didn’t recognize you at first, you look very different.” Lance chuckled “But as soon as I mentioned being a Pit, I saw the look on your face and I knew.”

“What are you talking about?” Pidge spoke up looking confused.

“Lance here nearly killed me once, I didn’t recognize you at all,” Shiro said his gaze not leaving Lance’s.

“Um, what?” Keith asked in disbelief “That’s impossible.”

“I thought so too, he was a kid. We were put in a fight together, Lance won. I almost died, one more hit and that would have been it, but he spared me.”

Lance shrugged “I told you, I didn’t like killing people. Plus, you were _The Champion_ ” Lance waved his hand in the air dramatically “If I killed you then that would raise my rank, I didn’t want that.”

“Okay, but you can fight and well. You already knew you could beat me, and you had many chances when I was alone with you. Why not fight your way out of here?”

“Because I’m not an idiot,” Lance rolled his eyes “I was never as gifted with hand-to-hand combat and I haven’t exactly been given a place to train with Lotor. You didn’t have a gun I could take, and I don’t even know where I am. Not to mention it’d been years since I’d fought you, I’m assuming you’ve trained and improved. You spelled it out for me, I’d never make it out on my own.”

“Well, I didn’t know who you were back then.”

“As I said, I’m out of practice.”

Shiro shrugged “Well as long as you aren’t about to kill me.”

Lance cocked his head surveying Shiro “No, I’m not. You’re red friend, however? Maybe. He annoys me.”

“Hey!” Keith said sharply “Maybe I’ll kill you.”

“ _Keith_ ,” Allura hissed in a way that Lance was realizing she did a lot. “Look, Lance.” She said turning away from Keith “I can tell you want Atlas City to be a better place too, you can help us do that.”

There was a moment of dead silence while Voltron waited for his reply.

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Okay,” Allura said “that’s all I ask. The guards will escort you back to your room.”

\--

Once Lance had left and the door had shut firmly behind him Shiro turned to Allura.

“Do not let that man _anywhere_ near a gun.” He said sharply.

“He’s dangerous?” Allura asked

“Incredibly,” Shiro nodded.

“He doesn’t seem very dangerous,” Hunk noted.

“That’s one of his biggest advantages. When I was a Pit, he was a kid, I underestimated him. Most people do…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been getting a lot of new people reading my stuff recently and I'm assuming that's because of quarantine so I decided it was time for me to update something. Has anyone caught onto my theme for the chapter names yet? I thought it was a rather fun idea personally. 
> 
> Thanks for reading folks!


	5. Selfless

The first time Lance was allowed to leave his room for something other than meeting with Voltron it was for mealtime. He guessed that they were tired of bringing every meal to his room.

Lance was led by a guard through whatever facility it was that he was being held. He was surprised when they passed a big cafeteria-like room. He peered through the doorway as they went by and was shocked to see it was full of different types of people, some wearing guard’s armor, others dressed in plain clothes, or heavy-duty work attire. They were all talking happily and eating.

“Are they all just eating together?” Lance asked his guard as she led him into a smaller room and shut the door.

Predictably she didn’t answer, just gestured for him to sit at a table in the middle of the room where there was a plate of food waiting.

He followed her instructions sitting down “No one was even fighting,” Lance said ignoring the fact that she didn’t seem like she wanted a conversation. “That’s crazy, is it always that nice?”

His words were met by silence once again, but this didn’t deter Lance, he could hold a conversation with a wall if he wanted (and in his weeks a prisoner with no one to talk to, he admittedly had). 

“Well, I think that’s really nice. I’m not used to people not trying to kill each other every chance they get. No one here seems to want to kill each other, well except for that Keith guy, I’m pretty sure he wants to kill me.”

Surprisingly this pulled a laugh from the guard. “Keith wants to kill everyone.”

“Oh!” Lance said with a smile “So you are capable of talking?”

She sighed and pushed something at the base of her neck, instantly the helmet covering her face collapsed into the collar of her armor. She didn’t look how Lance had imagined her. She had golden hair pulled up into a tight bun with bright eyes, flushed cheeks, and a kind smile.

“Sorry,” She said “I’m not supposed to talk to you. Which I have to tell you, is so hard because I love talking. That’s probably why Allura didn’t put me on your detail before now. I’m Romelle.” She smiled brightly.

“Hi Romelle,” Lance returned her smile with one just as bright.

“Mind if I sit?” She asked pointing at an empty chair placed table where Lance was seated.

“Not at all,”

She nodded taking the seat. “It is pretty nice that no one’s trying to kill each other. Also don’t mind Keith, he’s actually a good guy once you get past the anger and the knives.”

“You know, Shiro said something similar but I think you guys are just trying to lure me into a false sense of security so when he does kill me, I won’t expect it.”

“Okay,” She giggled “I have no idea what the plans are, but I doubt they include killing you.”

“That’s comforting, thanks.”

“I’m serious,” Romelle giggled “You’re too suspicious. We aren’t going to kill you!”

“You kidnapped me,” Lance pointed out.

“Okay, well that wasn’t _me_ specifically, Keith was the one who did it.”

Lance groaned “Of course that was him. I hate Keith!”

“Well, I’m so sad to hear that,” A voice said dryly.

Lance looked up to see Keith standing in the doorway. Weirdly it felt like it was the first time Lance had ever really seen the Red Paladin in the light, and he was struck by a weird feeling.

Keith’s hair was messy and falling in his face, his eyes Lance noticed were actually a dark violet color, similar to the color many members of Galran families had. Expect unlike most Galran’s Keith’s eyes didn’t have any yellow in the whites which made them look shockingly beautiful rather than sickly and wrong.

He looked dangerous and dark and it intrigued Lance in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was the same feeling he’d felt the first time Lotor allowed him access to the library, the shelves were so full of knowledge, stories stretching out on their shelves endlessly. It had felt like the possibilities were infinite.

“What?” Keith growled his eyes narrowing and Lance realized he was staring.

“Just imaging the best way to kill you,” Lance smiled wickedly shrugging off the weird feeling.

“Wonderful,” Keith deadpanned his eyes flicked over to Romelle and he glared.

“Romelle,” He said darkly.

“Yes?” She answered countering his dark expression with a blinding smile.

“Why is your helmet off? Why are you conversing with the prisoner?”

“Because he was talking, and it felt too rude to just keep ignoring him! Plus, Lance is nice. I like him.”

“Of course, you do,” Keith sighed before turning to Lance “I’ve been sent to see if you’ve decided whether or not to help us.”

Lance hesitated, biting his lip. Truthfully, he hadn’t come to much of a conclusion on what to do. He still didn’t trust Voltron but the things they’d talked about, peace, treating people fairly. It was all Lance had ever wanted and it was enough to make him doubt himself. Was he really doing the best thing by spending his life in Lotor’s library, reading the same stories over and over again? Was it wrong to only focus on his own safety and peace?

In Atlas City it was everyone for themselves, Lance had told himself this every night for over a decade. It was how he justified killing in The Pit every day, it was how he kept his sanity while he wasted away within the palace walls. Lance was selfish, he had to be selfish. No one was going to look out for him so he couldn’t waste his time looking out for other people otherwise he’d be a dead man.

He _was_ selfish.

Except when he’d let himself lose in The Pit and wound up a Street, that wasn’t for him. It was for the people he knew he’d kill if he stayed… hundreds of people. So many faces, young and old, dead at his hands, they’d begun to blur together and that terrified him. He left to save them.

Or maybe it was selfishness when he’d done that too because he’d just wanted to save that little bit of humanity he still had.

It was everyone for themselves.

Right now, what was best for himself? Helping Voltron?

“So?” Keith asked irritably crossing his arms “Are you ever going to answer or just keep staring off into space?”

Lance looked up startled by the suddenly broken silence, he met Keith’s gaze.

He realized after Keith’s eyes widened in surprise that he was too open, Lance’s thoughts had gotten the best of him and he’d just shown this man who clearly hated him more than he ever showed anyone. Lance lived with his walls up, everyone did in this world.

Lance wasn’t sure what he had caught in Lance’s expression, but Keith took a step backward his brow furrowing and his mouth falling open slightly.

Lance quickly averted his gaze quickly collecting himself and putting his guard back in its proper place.

“Okay,” Lance said clearing his throat “I’ll help.”

Keith nodded “I’ll let Allura know,” He turned exiting the room before Lance had a chance to change his mind.

The door slide shut behind him and Lance turned back to his food “So,” He said brightly to Romelle putting back on his carefree persona “can you tell me about your cool helmet? I’ve never seen something that collapses as seamlessly as yours does.”

“Oh!” Romelle said clapping her hands together “Isn’t it cool? All soldiers get one, they’re actually designed by Pidge, she’s a genius….”

Lance nodded along pretending to listen as thoughts raced around his head, he lightly touched his wrist under the table and tried to fight the sudden wave of sadness as he realized what had been glaring him in the face for weeks now.

Lotor wasn’t coming, if he was, he would be here by now.

Lance was on his own.

He couldn’t be the sheltered and protected husband of the emperor anymore; it was time for him to switch parts. If that meant becoming a part of a rebellion then so be it,

It was everyone for themselves, and Lance was far from selfless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg, so I loved writing this chapter because while it may not feel so huge, but this is where we really get the ball rolling!
> 
> I have so many plans and I can't wait! We're going to get some really cool sides to our characters, I just love the things you can do to people with such a harsh, cruel setting. The lines between good and bad can get really thin and I can't wait to explore that. 
> 
> Do y'all like my world-building, are you getting the feeling I'm trying to put out here?


	6. Reckless

Keith was a curious person, it’s not something most people expected from him, but then again, most people didn’t really know him.

People looked at Keith and saw someone who was cold, angry, fierce, sometimes cruel, or harsh. Maybe he was those things, in all honesty.

Keith was an orphan, alone since he was six years old, left on the streets. There are only two things a person can become when they’re a young orphan and a Street; dead or brutal. So, Keith became an assassin.

It’s a weird thing to be a child and kill for money. Keith didn’t even truly understand what death meant when he was six. But he was talented with a knife, fierce and alone. He did what he had to, everyone in Atlas did.

Child assassins were special, people weren’t exactly kind or forgiving to children, but they hardly expected most to pull out a knife and brutally take down ten full-grown men.

Keith made money, got off the streets, grew up.

Grew up into a monster maybe. He killed because killing was power, and power was the only thing that could save a person.

Until he was taken down, forced into something else. Someone who could not just kill but _think_.

He found that his thirst for a fight, that burning feeling in his chest for more and more, always more… it was the same burn he felt when there was a question with no answer, a mystery to be solved. They took him and they taught him how his rage and relentlessness went hand-in-hand with his curiosity.

Keith leaned into that these days. Solving a mystery, figuring something out, it was the same feeling he got when the yearly mass Burnings happened. The executing of thousands of prisoners the Galra didn’t want to waste the resources to keep jailed, or anyone they saw as a threat to their empire. After these burnings the streets were different for weeks after, covered in ash. You couldn’t step outside without choking on smoke. But eventually, you could go out again, the sky was clear the ash gone as if it had never even been there, when this happened Keith always emerged with a deep breath, and thanked the stars that he’d survived this round of Burnings.

That quick moment of relief only came on those post-Burning days, or after he found an answer he was looking for. It was one of the few sweet moments Keith ever got.

He loved solving mysteries, and Lance it seemed was one of them.

From the beginning Keith thought he’d had Lance pegged, a naïve Galra worshipper, blindly following Lotor for the privileges and luxuries. Now Keith wasn’t so sure, Shiro talking about Lance beating him in The Pit was a shock to Keith, but what shocked him, even more, was the look he’d caught in Lance’s eyes when he’d finally agreed to help Voltron.

It was a look Keith recognized because he saw it on his face when he looked in the mirror after a long day when there was no one to hide from but himself.

It was the look of a survivor, and to be fair everyone that lived in Atlas was a survivor but there was a different type. The type that took everything a step farther, who would do _anything_ if it meant staying alive. Seeing that look in Lance scared Keith because he knew someone like that on the wrong side of Voltron, could tear down everything they’d built.

But mostly what scared Keith was the humanity in Lance. If Keith had only seen that survivor look, he would have killed Lance. Everyone would have been pissed at him, but they would have forgiven him eventually because Keith was only doing what was best for Voltron. But Keith found even as he thought about it he couldn’t seriously consider killing Lance, he seemed so profoundly _human_ at that moment. 

That was a rare thing.

So yeah… Keith was intrigued.

“Keith, do you have no interest in our mission, should we go ahead and plan out attack on the shipping route without your input?”

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Keith replied quickly, shaking his head under Allura’s sharp glare.

“Good,” She said casting him one last disapproving look before turning back to the screen in the front of the room.

“Here is the normal route the Galra takes…” Allura started gesturing to a path on the screen.

Keith looked ahead trying to focus and Pidge caught his eye from across the table. She raised her eyebrows in an inquiring look and Keith shrugged in a silent reply. Pidge’s eyes narrowed at Keith, but she turned her gaze back to Allura with one last suspicious look.

It was unusual for Keith to not pay attention especially when it came to planning a fight, he knew his behavior was out-of-character and Pidge being Pidge, was curious.

Originally Keith never would have imagined becoming close friends with the smallest paladin. They were so different, but despite their differences, they had something in common; their curiosity. For Pidge it was the need to know how things worked, she liked to take things apart and put them together again until she knew every piece of it. It was different for Keith, he fell for stories, mysteries, he liked the impossible but most of all he liked to know the truth behind the impossible because nothing was _really_ impossible. This had somehow drawn them together until Keith couldn’t imagine living a life without her as his friend.

“Okay,” Allura said clapping her hands, the screen shut off without a sound. “Go take a lunch break we’ll meet back here in an hour, I’m bringing Lance in so be on your best behavior please, we really need any information he has.”

“Does he have any?” Hunk piped up “Because it didn’t seem like he knew much.” He frowned.

“He does.” Keith said firmly “There’s no way a guy like that lived in the palace with the Emperor of all people and didn’t find out anything that would be useful.”

“A guy like what?” Pidge asked her forehead wrinkling in a question.

Keith paused “…a survivor, everything he does is to live. His decisions are calculated, there’s no way he didn’t anticipate the possibility that things there could go wrong one day, Lotor could give him up or someone could mark him a traitor. I assume he’d prepare for that. So he must have been gathering anything that would be useful to him over the years.”

“You seem to know him well,” Shiro noted, “Have you been talking to him?”

Keith shook his head “Just once, but I could read it in his eyes.”

“I haven’t seen anything in his eyes,” Hunk said, “the guy seemed practically unreadable.”

Keith shrugged “Well I did, do you guys not trust my judgment?”

“Of course, we do, Keith.” Shiro spoke kindly “But you have been known to make reckless decisions, as long as you aren’t getting to know Lance just so you can have a chance to kill him?” Shiro raised his eyebrows.

“I _am not_ getting to know him,” Keith said crossing his arms “I just noticed things. And I’m not trying to kill him… though the thought did cross my mind.”

“Well, that’s better than I would have expected,” Shiro said patting Keith on the shoulder. “C’mon guys, let’s get some lunch.”

“Ugh yes please, I’m starving.” Hunk groaned throwing himself out of his seat and towards the door. The rest of the paladins quickly followed suit.

\--

After lunch, Allura sent Keith to go fetch Lance.

“Are you trying to test me to see if I’m going to kill him?” Keith complained when she relayed her request to him.

Allura returned his comment with a stern glance and with a sigh, Keith turned and set down the hall to carry out her orders.

When Keith came to Lance’s room the guards posted at the door stepped aside to let him through and the door opened with a hiss. When Keith entered, he found Lance sprawled out on the floor with a large book, he was so focused on it he didn’t seem to hear Keith come in.

“Ahem,” Keith coughed to get his attention.

Lance looked up in surprise “Oh,” He said registering who it was “why do they keep sending you to come get me? I don’t fancy being murdered in the halls.”

“I’m not going to murder you,” Keith rolled his eyes “Come on.”

Lance sighed grabbing a of frayed cloth to mark the page in his book he got up and joined Keith at the door.

“Can you read that?” Keith said suddenly as the made their way down the hall.

“Huh?” Lance asked surprised at Keith's question. Honestly, Keith was a little surprised too, he hadn’t meant to make conversation.

“Uh, the book you were reading. It looked big and complicated; you can read it?”

“Yeah…” Lance nodded “Can you not?”

Keith felt should have been offended by the question in some way, but he wasn’t “No,” Keith said simply. “I mean I can read, but not well enough to make sense of something like that though.”

“Oh, yeah. I forget sometimes that other people didn’t get the chance I did to read such things, I couldn’t have read it once either. There’s not much time to read in The Pit but I’ve had vastly more time on my hands in recent years, so I learned. You could learn.”

“I’ve never been good at reading,” Keith shrugged “So probably not. I didn’t even learn until I was fifteen. The Bla—” Keith immediately cut off his sentence realizing he was going into territory he shouldn’t be, he backpedaled “Someone was kind enough to teach me, they thought knowledge is important which isn’t a common idea for most.”

“No,” Lance shook his head “It’s not. But sometimes knowledge is the greatest weapon, it does you no good to know how to fight if you never know enough to pick your battles.”

Keith found himself chuckling lightly “I’ve been told I don’t know how to pick my battles; I’m not sure knowledge would fix that though.”

“Sure, it would,” Lance smiled “there isn’t anyone who can’t be changed if they learn the right things.”

Keith raised an eyebrow “Do you really believe that?”

Lance paused for a moment his walk slowing slightly “Sometimes, depends on what kind of day I’m having.”

“Fair enough,” Keith said as they reached the war room.

They passed through the doors and it wasn’t until Keith was settling into his seat at the table that it hit him, he’d just had an entire conversation with Lance. And not a threatening to kill each other conversation but an actually pleasant one.

As Allura called them to order Keith couldn’t help but wonder if in another life he and Lance could have possibly been friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a short chapter guys, I wound up splitting it into a smaller one because I was still in the middle of writing it and I wanted to be able to put something out this week before my school stuff started. college online is awful guyyys. 
> 
> But anyway we got a much deeper look into Keith's character. I kind of took his whole thing when he found the blue lion as this deep curiosity thing for mysteries and ran with it, it may be a little OC but in my mind, I think it applies to Keith. Also I threw a little world-building into there because I can't resist.


	7. Anchorless

“The Galra are on the move,” Allura spoke to the table “Earlier I explained to the paladins our plan to hijack a shipment,” her eyes turned to Lance “they’re going over lands we don’t normally see this kind activity on. We’re in the dark on what they’re doing, I thought that you Lance, may be able to give us some insight.”

Lance leaned forward frowning “What lands exactly?”

“We can’t pinpoint an exact location because the area is shielded and we can’t get close enough to see, but it’s past the west side of the Trenches.”

“Past the Trenches? Is there anything past the trenches?”

“Yes,” Allura said simply. “Do you have any idea what Lotor might be planning.”

There was a moment’s pause while Lance thought… “Quintessence,” he said finally “They’re probably producing Quintessence. I know Lotor had planned in a huge rise in sales, that stuff is more addictive than any other drug… all the Galra had to do to turn it into a huge profit was sneak some free samples to people, tell them to pass it around… just like that, it took off. Now they can raise the price and people will keep buying because they can’t stop. To accommodate that they have to be producing it double time. So, they probably have a factory of some sort out there.”

“I thought you didn’t know Lotor dealt in Quintessence,” Pidge said probably remembering his freak out a few weeks back when Keith accused Lotor of dealing it.

“I lied,” Lance shrugged

Shiro’s brow furrowed “Wait so the Galra started Quintessence?” He asked, “They’re the people who let it into the city?”

“Our intel told us it came from someone else.” Allura frowned

“Well…” Lance said, “It did come from somewhere else I think. From what I understand the Galra made a deal to control of supply and production of the drug with someone.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know, eavesdropping only got me so far. Based on the talk I heard though, I think they weren’t from around here.”

“Where would they be from then?” Hunk asked.

Lance cocked his head to the side “Atlas can’t be the only place left out there.”

“No,” Allura agreed “Do you know anything else about Quintessence?”

“No I don’t,” Lance replied with a shake of his head.

He was lying but Lance knew he only had so much room here, the information he was able to give was his only advantage. If he gave it all up at once, then he wouldn’t be useful anymore.

“Okay, well thank you, Lance, that was more intel than we had previously.”

\--

“Allura, are you sure about this?” Shiro asked, his tone was respectful but unsure.

“Yes, I think it’s the right move,” Allura said firmly.

“You realize we can’t truly trust him, right?”

“Of course, I realize that.”

Shiro frowned “He’s on our side for now, but Lance will turn on us as soon as it benefits him.”

“I’m not an idiot, Shirogane.” Allura glared sharply “I’m well aware of this, I also know he spoke of not being able to train in bitterness. That was something Lotor deprived him of. It’s something we can give to him. He’ll associate us with this good thing.”

“So, you’re manipulating him?” Pidge piped up “brilliant!”

“It’s not very nice.” Hunk said and Pidge rolled her eyes.

After they’d discussed the Quintessence trade and it became clear that Lance had no more information (or at least none he was going to give up at that moment) Lance had been sent back to his room and Allura had wrapped up the meeting letting them know of one last idea she’d had: letting Lance train.

“He’ll be monitored the whole time and only be given training grade weapons. the worst the guns will do to a person is the equivalent of a sunburn. Right now, Lance is an immediate threat, we don’t know his skills besides what Shiro saw many years ago. This will help us get a feel for it.”

Shiro nodded “You’re right, I’m sorry for questioning your Judgement.”

“Thank you,” She accepted his apology albeit a bit stiffly. “Please have a guard let Lance know that we’re going to allow him to train if he’d like and he’s free to do so when he’s ready. Why don’t you have Romelle tell him? I hear the two have struck up a friendship.”

“Of course, I’ll do that.” Shiro gave her a small nod of respect before briskly exiting the room.

“You’re dismissed,” Allura said, with a wave of her hand the paladin’s dispersed to go about their duties.

\--

“So…” Lance said taking in what Romelle had just told him “I’m allowed to train?”

“Yup,”

“Uh, why?”

Romelle shrugged “Hell if I know, but do you want to?”

“Yeah, I do. Can we go now?”

“I don’t see why not, c’mon.”

\--

The training room wasn’t particularly magnificent. Lance had been allowed to see the training center in the palace a few times (when Lotor was trying to make an effort to spend time with Lance and had taken him along to training). Lotor’s room was huge with state-of-the-art simulations and gear. Compared to that Voltron’s was tiny, but it seemed well designed, probably by Pidge. Romelle told Lance that she was some kind of genius.

Romelle showed Lance over to the training gear and immediately his hands found went to the training blaster on instinct. He turned it over in his hands slowly, the training gun was lighter than a real blaster and lacked the powerful warmth a deadly one did. But a gun was a gun.

Romelle hit a button on the wall and there was a whir as targets were revealed. “We have bots too,” she told him “but you should probably start with the targets.”

“Sure,” Lance shrugged “I don’t really give a fuck, I’m just happy to shoot a gun.”

She grinned “Then be my guest.”

Romelle beckoned to the targets and Lance stepped forward raising the blaster. His body knew the stance it should be in just as it knew how to breathe.

Lance's finger curled around the trigger, eyeing the target and lining up his shot. Lance inhaled deeply.

He pulled the trigger.

As he breathed out again, he surveyed his work, it was almost perfect shot as Lance had more or less expected, only a centimeter away from dead center of the bull’s eye. He imagined he’d be a little rustier when it came to shooting moving targets.

“Wow,” Romelle remarked, “that’s a perfect shot.”

Lance shook his head “Thanks, but not quite. It’s a centimeter or so too far to the right.”

She squinted at the target “I can’t even tell. How can you see that?”

“I have good eyesight” Lance chuckled with an easy shrug.

\--

Romelle had informed Allura that she was taking Lance to the training room and Allura had quickly called the paladins to meet her on the observation deck above the training room. It was time for them to see Lance’s skills.

Keith wasn’t sure exactly what he’d been expecting. Obviously, Lance must be a pretty good based on what Shiro had said but Keith hadn’t imagined Lance would be _that_ good.

He’d taken what had to be his first shot in years with ease, hitting an almost perfect bull’s eye. From there Romelle had turned it into a game. Moving the target farther and farther away to see if Lance could hit it. He did, every single time.

In the observation deck, no one on team Voltron said a word.

“Okay, I’ve got an idea!” Romelle said clapping her hands “Try to get a bull’s eye without looking. There’s no way you can do that!”

Keith watched as below Lance nodded “You’re about to eat your words,” he laughed.

“No fucking way,” Romelle replied smugly “you’re not getting this one.”

“Whatever you say,” 

Romelle grabbed a spare strip of the thick cloth they used to cover their eyes during Allura’s most intense training sessions. She handed it to Lance he accepted it, tying the cloth over his eyes.

“Okay, can you see?” Romelle asked

“Not at all,”

“Perfect!” She giggled turning him towards the target “Okay, take your shot.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance chuckled.

Keith stepped closer to the glass to get a better look.

“He’s not gonna make that is he?” Pidge asked curiously.

“Is that even possible?” Hunk added shifting in his spot at the window.

“Sure,” Keith said not taking his eyes off Lance “Muscle memory. We do the courses blind, it’s the same thing.”

“Yeah, but we do it with bots where we can hear them, and it doesn’t require the same precision you need as a sniper.” Pidge pointed out.

Before anyone else could say anything, Lance pulled the trigger….

_It was a perfect shot._

“Holy shit,” Pidge said.

In the training room, Romelle shrieked “How did you do that?”

Lance pulled the blindfold off “Muscle memory,” he said, in a way scarily similar to how Keith had said it only moments before. Even the tone of his voice was an echo of one Keith knew well. “Your body is smarter than you think, it remembers. Being able to see is a useful tool sure, but your body doesn’t need it. I just remembered exactly the position I needed to be in to make the shot.”

As Lance explained it to Romelle Keith felt his stomach drop, he remembered being told the same things once.

_“I can’t do it!” Keith had yelled frustrated after what felt like his hundredth failed attempt._

_“You can do it, you don’t need your sight. It’s a useful tool but your body knows what to do, it’s smarter than you think. You’re trying to control it, but your body knows better than you do. It’s muscle memory, Keith. Try again.”_

The words were too eerily similar to be a coincidence.

And what Lance had said not so long ago: _“Atlas City is a ruthless place.”_

It wasn’t just the fact that he’d said it that chilled Keith to the bone, it was the way he said it, the weight, the familiarity of it. Keith had heard the same thing almost every day for years. He’d heard it so much that it repeated in his nightmares like a prediction, _a promise_.

“Keith?”

He turned from the window to see Shiro standing behind him, they were the only ones left in the observation room and Lance and Romelle were gone from the training room. They must have finished up and Keith was so in his head he didn’t even notice.

“Oh,” Keith shook his head joining Shiro and together they left the observation room and headed down the hall.

“Everything okay?” Shiro asked nudging Keith gently as they walked.

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith nodded “it’s just… I realized, some of the things Lance says… someone I knew once said similar things. I thought it was a coincidence at first, but now I don’t think it is.”

Shiro frowned “Wait so what does that mean, you two know the same person? I mean Atlas is a big place and the two of you hardly ran in the same circles with you being... well, an assassin.”

“You have no idea,” Keith shook his head “The person didn’t really run in _any_ circles, so I don’t know how Lance would have known him. He’s so far underground there aren’t even records he officially exists. So, it just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Well, I doubt we know Lance’s full story. We got the easy version, right? Pit, to Street, to Lotor’s husband. There’s no way it was that simple and Lance hasn’t exactly given a timeline. Who knows how long he was on the streets and what he got up to? I suppose Lance could know this person you know, even if Atlas is a big place.”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed “that just doesn’t line up with what we know about Lance though. He’s a survivor, he’s selfish… right? That’s why he’s helping us, betraying his husband. It’s for his own sake. But if he knows Ko—the person I know.” Keith said quickly correcting himself “then that changes everything.”

“I’m not going to pretend I understand the significance of Lance knowing this person too. But maybe you should ask Lance about it.”

Keith hesitated “I don’t know, maybe.”

“Well at least think about it. This is clearly important to you.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll think about it.”

Shiro gave Keith his signature proud dad smile “Good,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi look at me with a semi-regular posting schedule! I'm trying for every Sunday but I have tests next week so be warned I might not get it out then. (also I know today is Monday not Sunday, don't come after me). 
> 
> But in good news, I put down my deposit for school and I will officially be attending college this year! Whoop! I'm so excited for crushing student debt 😭😭
> 
> anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it contains a lot of scenery changes so it's a little faster paced than usual (in my personal opinion) lmk what y'all think, I live for comments not gonna lie.

**Author's Note:**

> ah yes, I have barely updated any of my other fics because I've been stressed but now I've decided to start a new one. Look, I'm sorry but I have no control over myself.   
> Please just tell me you like this, I'm delicate and unmotivated. Isolation has ruined me. :,(


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